Summary: Deepground is a mess. Once they find Genesis (if they find Genesis), they still need to get out before they're discovered, or it collapses. Or both. Both is a possibility.

Chapter 19: Carry the Load

Cloud couldn't help his rapid pulse or the bees buzzing in his stomach. It wasn't even where they were and what they were doing that had made his heart jackhammer. It had been seeing Zack all curled up and helpless.

He knew how to compensate, though – or maybe it was compartmentalize – so that his internal distraction didn't put the group in danger. Cloud hadn't been SOLDIER, but he'd been a soldier, and some skills you never lost. He took control of the group and had them moving out in no time. Tifa in front as navigator with him as backup. Zack in the back so he could gather his bits together in private, with Aerith as backup.

Cloud moved quietly and alert to danger, even as he analyzed his own reaction to Zack's 'episode'.

It wasn't the first time Zack had had one, of course. The first week after Cloud found the ex‑SOLDIER on the cliff top had been filled with episodes from small panic attacks to full out flashbacks. (It was why he used socks to wake his friend up, instead of poking him from up close.) But Zack hadn't had an episode in a while, and Cloud thought – had hoped – they were mostly done with them. That his friend was figuring this stuff out.

On the other hand, Zack didn't have them as often. Maybe 'not often' was as close as they'd get to 'better' without talking to someone who actually knew what the fuck four years of mental and physical torture did to a person?

It wasn't a reassuring thought, because Cloud had gone to the university when he'd been in Kalm. He'd talked to every professor and doctor who might've had any kind of advice or expertise. They'd all said the same thing: brain trauma was caused by physical damage. If there was no physical damage, then there could be no trauma.

One of them had even air-quoted the word 'trauma'. Cloud had resisted the temptation to give the self-righteous prick a practical lesson in traumatic injuries.

However, if Kalm University didn't know, that meant there was no guidebook for this; No instructions he could ask for to help Zack through this. There was just him – Cloud Strife from Nibelheim – muddling his way through and hoping he didn't make it worse.

And if he didn't want to suffer his own damage, he needed to bring his thoughts back to the present. Zack's issues would still be waiting when they got out of here.

The room beyond the ramp wasn't as big as the one above. It was filled with control panels that had screens and buttons and keypads. Maybe, when they'd had power, they would've lit up this room to near daylight, but now only one screen was flashing: "CONNECTION TO INPUT SERVER LOST – press ENTER to reacquire"

Cloud didn't press anything.

"Service corridor crosses this room," Tifa said. "If the stairs hadn't been wrecked, we'd've come from the left." She pointed and Cloud could just make out the edges of what could've been a door between computer banks.

"We go right, then?"

"No, straight," she answered. "One more level down."

The emergency lights fizzed and popped. It made Cloud tense and look into the shadows. "Wait a sec," he said. He walked into the corner to find what had caught his eye. Unlike Aerith's find, it wasn't anything immediately useful. "Keycard," he said when he rejoined the group.

"Power's out," Tifa said in question.

"Might be useful later," Cloud said.

Aerith nodded agreement. "When the power comes back on."

"Let's hope we're out of here before that happens," Zack said with a rueful smirk.

Cloud could only agree with Zack. But still, he tucked the keycard into one of his pockets. His habit of salvaging everything found on a hunt too ingrained to ignore.

The ramp on the other side of the control room was obviously not aligned with the room's floor. In fact, it was low enough that Zack jumped first and swung Aerith down. That was the only hazard, though. They made it down to the next level and to the next big waste-of-space room without even a stubbed toe.

This room had a metal door blocking the entrance from the landing. Black and yellow diagonal stripes warned of danger, and there was a sign: Authorized Personnel Only Beyond This Point.

"This is it," Tifa said confirming what they already knew. No other reason to keep people out, right?

The lights on the card reader were dark, but Cloud waved the keycard in front of it anyway. Nothing.

"Emergency release?" he asked, and they all scanned the walls and the door looking for something.

"Doesn't look like it," Zack said. "Brute strength?" He handed Hardedge to Tifa and Cloud hitched Iron Blade to his harness. They put their hands in the crack and pulled.

It moved maybe a finger's width.

They shoved their fingers in deeper and pulled harder.

Another finger's width.

"Couldn't Masamune cut through steel?" Cloud grunted. His muscles weren't hurting yet, but he could feel the strain.

"It wasn't the sword," Zack grunted back. "It was the move. Wait…. Maybe…" He gave Cloud a quick warning before letting go of the door.

It stayed open the small amount they'd been able to shift it.

Zack had taken his sword back from Tifa. "Hit me," he told her.

"What?" Tifa asked.

"I need my limit break," Zack said. "So, hit me."

With a shrug, Tifa bounced and then let loose. Zack was flung into the metal walls. They made an unhappy thrumming sound.

"Fuck me, I mean, frog balls," the SOLDIER groaned. He stood away from the wall, breathing. Aerith was standing with her hands clasped, looking worried.

"Need more?" Tifa asked.

Zack nodded. He stretched out his neck. "Half strength."

Tifa spun. Her kick caught him high on the shoulder and knocked him to the ground.

She bounced. "More?" Her tone was embarrassingly happy.

This time Zack stayed on the ground and breathed, assessing. "Nope. Should do." He climbed to his feet. "I am so glad we're on the same side," he said as he stretched out his shoulder. Aerith handed him a small healing potion.

He lifted Hardedge above his head. "Okay, stand back. This is a pretty small space to use this in." They obediently took a step back up the ramp.

When Zack whipped his sword down, it carved white streaks of pure energy into the air. The streaks moved away from the metal of the blade and hit the door in flashes, cutting into it – cutting deep into it.

Cloud watched and tried to figure out how it was done. It was definitely Sephiroth's famous Octoslash move, shown in so many of Shinra's promo videos, but it was also purely Zack – functional, but also flashy.

"Yeah!" Zack shouted as line after line burst from the end of his sword.

Cloud wanted that move.

When Zack was done, and the white glow had faded from the door, there were long lines along the edges, deep enough they could almost see through to the next room.

"Punch it?" Tifa suggested.

"Punch it," Zack agreed.

Cloud didn't have a fancy punch like they did, but he could kick pretty hard. "On three."

It fell with a hollow thump on the room's non-skid flooring.

"Alrighty then," Zack muttered.

Cloud scanned the room. It was a lot like the one above it, except for the far corner, next to the ramp leading down, was a frosted glass enclosure. Dim red lights indicated another container inside of that one, but Cloud couldn't make out the details.

The whole room showed signs of the people who worked here: chairs had sweaters draped over the back, there were coffee cups and what looked like the remains of a sandwich.

"Think they've gone far?" Zack asked him softly.

"It matter?" he asked back. They'd be lab coats, not fighters. Cloud wouldn't like killing them, but he would if they interfered.

Cloud and Zack went in front this time, their dark vision better than either Aerith or Tifa's. Zack moved towards the glass room, both of them knowing it most likely contained the other former-First. Cloud looked around, hoping for a computer he could hack, find out what Shinra wanted from Deepground.

"Aerith." He nodded at a cupboard marked as Emergency Supplies. She nodded and her and Tifa both went over to loot it. There might not be materia or phoenix down, but simple antibiotics and pain killers were always in demand under the plate.

Zack hadn't even reached the glass enclosure when the room started to shake.

Wheeled chairs rolled as the floor tilted. The dim emergency lights flickered and cracked. A ceiling light fell out of its casing and swung in wild arcs before settling into a soft sway.

It stopped, but they waited, braced for aftershocks.

"Nearly there, brother." The voice came from the down ramp.

Cloud looked at Zack. Zack nodded – he'd heard it, too. Soundlessly they moved to flank the far entrance. There wasn't a door on it like there had been to get into this room, so presumably it was one big super-secret-science-lab here on out.

"I will save you, brother. Do not give up." The voice was male, young, stretched almost to breaking. If the brother was with him, he didn't respond.

A chair, temporarily caught on a groove in the flooring, was finally dragged free by gravity. It rolled a short way before getting caught once again and tipping over with a crash.

Cloud forced himself to ignore the distraction. He'd seen movement on the ramp: one dark head and one pale. He looked over at Zack, made sure the SOLDIER was looking back. Cloud pointed fingers at his eyes and then pointed down the ramp. Then he held up two fingers.

Zack frowned. He held up one finger.

Cloud repeated the gestures, and Zack shrugged, accepting that Cloud saw two, but he didn't.

Two heads crossed the threshold as one. It was hard to tell – the dark-hair one seemed to fade into the shadow – but it looked like he was dragging his light-haired brother up from the bottom.

"Hi there," Zack said, because of course he would. Dark head spun – or tried to. His brother was a dead weight along one side. The sudden shift unbalanced him and they both fell to the floor.

"Oh sh- I mean, monkey nuts," Zack said. "There are two of you."

"Are you here to help?" Dark Hair asked. It sounded both young and strangely innocent considering where they were.

"Help how?" Zack crouched so he was closer. Cloud kept his distance in case it was a lure.

He had to keep turning his head to watch the pair with his peripheral vision, or the dark-haired one practically faded from view. He didn't like it.

From what he did see of the dark one's face, Cloud estimated the boy had just hit puberty. Or whatever Hojo was doing down here had delayed it. His voice was soft enough to be any age, he was narrow in his face and shoulders, and there was no hint of a beard or acne.

However, there were jagged lines of dark liquid – blood and more – dripping from his nostrils and his ears. Not a great sign.

"My brother, Weiss, needs healing." The dark-haired one tipped his chin towards the pale form he held, who didn't move or make a sound. "The machine – it blew. He was in it – and he was hurt. But he can be fixed. He can still fulfil his destiny."

The last was almost pleading. As if the boy had to prove their worth before anyone would help him.

Considering what Zack had told him about Sephiroth's childhood under Hojo, it was probably true.

"Is that Weiss?" Zack nodded at the pale one. The dark one nodded. "What's your name?"

"Nero," the boy said. He coughed, a wet hacking sound. Blue-black liquid stained his lips. "Nero the Sable, but I am unimportant. You must save Weiss."

From here, Cloud could see the boy's back. His shirt was open. Metal implants and bracing were visible through the cloth. It meant the experiments done on him weren't just cellular, weren't just mako.

Cloud had to force himself to loosen his grip on Iron Blade. He'd been 15 when he joined Shinra. How old had this boy been?

Zack shook his head sadly. "Kid…"

"If we can get him to Specimen G," Nero said quickly. " The professor said G-cells would help."

"Kid," Zack repeated firmly. "He's already dissolving." He nodded at Weiss's legs and hands, at the wrist Nero was holding. Pale green flickers inched out of Weiss's body, escaping through a layer of blue-black ichor that was also seeping out.

Nero wailed. "Surely it can be reversed?"

Zack shook his head. "Not once it's started." His voice was kind, but firm. Cloud knew why. A dissolving body took the creature's spirit with it into the Lifestream. They could heal the body, but whatever made a person more than flesh, was already going away. Trying to bring it back never worked.

Religions used to say it was why the lights shone and sparkled and danced as they rose: souls joyful to meet their god.

Maybe. Cloud had no evidence otherwise.

Nero placed a dark hand on his brother's cheek. "If he dies, what purpose is there to life?"

"Uhh," Zack stumbled. Cloud couldn't think of anything either. Not that he didn't value being alive, but from the sounds of it, no argument they'd give would change the boy's mind.

"I will keep our promise, my beloved brother," Nero whispered, ignoring everyone else. "We will tread the unknown path together." Nero coughed. A large gout of black liquid spilled from his mouth.

"I have to ask you, formally," Zack said. "You're injured, probably dying. Do you wish to be Healed?"

"I will go with Weiss," Nero muttered. He laid down next to his brother and hugged him close. Weiss's dissolution had sped up with larger, brighter green motes. "Together, so that none may ever tear us apart. As it was meant to be."

"Alrighty then." Zack huffed out a breath. "Do you need anything? A blanket or a pillow?" But Nero didn't hear the offer. His eyes slid closed and dull green sparkles pulled free of his body, drifting close to the flesh before rising up and disappearing.

Zack looked up. "'Geal? If you can hear me, I think this kid could use some help up there."

Whatever sign Zack was hoping for, Cloud didn't see anything. After a moment, Zack stood up. They were joined by Tifa and Aerith. Aerith took Zack's hand and hummed a soft tune that was suitable for this. Tifa stood a little closer to Cloud than she usually did. Cloud shifted his weight to the foot closest to her, a little bit of extra reassurance for both of them.

"Fire?" he asked.

Aside from Rosso the Crimson, these would be the first humans they'd encountered; the first ones that had died.

Like the monsters they'd killed, there was no doubt the boys' cells had been messed with. Letting them dissolve naturally risked infecting the Lifestream with whatever Hojo had used. However, would it deny the two boys their chance for an afterlife if they cremated them before they'd fully dissolved?

"Aerith, what do you think?" Zack asked.

She looked as serious as she ever did. She knelt by the two boys, hand out. Almost immediately, she pulled her hand back. "Fira."

A moment of concentration to cast its strongest fire spell and the blond brother's body burned. Another one for Nero, and then there was nothing but ash floating in the entrance. Cloud didn't say anything about the sniffing he heard from Tifa. He just put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Not used to the smell," she said. Nobody called her on it. Instead, they took a moment, looking down at the scorch marks.

Cloud was the first to turn away. "Let's find your friend and get out of here, yah?"

"Not really my friend," Zack said, but he was already turning to look at the glass enclosure. "He's gotta be in there," he said.

They all went up to the glass, trying to peer inside, but it wasn't any clearer up close.

"Everyone look for controls," Cloud said.

He walked to the wall on the left. Logically, the door should be attached to one of the walls so it could just slide away, and there was a computer station there. Cloud touched the pad built into the station and the screen lit up. INITIATE REBOOT? it flashed. Cloud pulled his hands away. "It's got some backup power," he told the others.

"I think I found the door panel," Aerith said from the right side. Cloud turned to watch.

As the one with the most experience with Shinra's equipment, Zack looked at the controls Aerith had found.

He looked. He shrugged. He pulled the handle.

Two things happened: One, the right glass panel slid into the wall. Two, the message on the screen in front of Cloud changed to: Unauthorized access detected. Automatic system reboot initiated. Credentials required to override.

"Heads up!" Cloud called out to Zack. "System's restarting."

"How long?" Tifa asked. All Cloud could do was shrug. It wasn't like there was a countdown on screen.

He took the keycard out of his pocket and waved in front of anything that looked like a sensor. He ran it through a couple of slots that could've been readers. The screen blinked more slowly a couple times after he tried the second slot, but then it went back to the reboot message.

He could try zapping it with lightning, but that might trip an immediate alarm.

"Cloud!" Aerith called. "I think Zack could use some help."

Cloud jerked his chin at her, and she came over to the station. He gave her the keycard. "Watch the screen. Let us know when it changes." He touched Tifa's shoulder as he passed her; "Tifa. Quickest way to the nearest exit. Stairs, elevator, whatever."

Tifa nodded and pulled out the custodian's map.

Cloud walked through the opening. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting but it wasn't what faced him. First Class SOLDIER Genesis Rhapsodos wasn't on a medical bed or on flat surface of any kind. He was in a large, mako-filled tank, apparently hanging from dozens of tubes and wires that ran to, or rather into him from outside the tank. The wing Zack had described was out with more wires and tubes. It was practically featherless.

Rhapsodos' famous red hair was mostly covered by a thick metal helmet. Across the front his name was embossed in heavy all caps: GENESIS. Under it were the words, 'property of Shinra Electric Company – copyright: [μ] εуλ 1980'.

Zack wasn't looking at Rhapsodos.

He was standing facing the wall, hands on hips. He appeared to be taking deep, deep breaths.

"Problem?" Cloud asked.

Zack's head turned only slightly towards him. "Yeah," he said. He gave a nod that somehow seemed angry.

"What is it?"

Zack punched the wall, leaving a slight dent. "This is how Jenova was hooked up when we found her." He tipped forward until his forehead rested against the cold metal.

Cloud kept back. He should be looking for the controls, but he kept his focus on his friend. "In Nibelheim," he confirmed.

Again, one sharp nod. "Yeah. At the reactor."

"And?" Zack said nothing. Cloud kept in his sigh. "What you afraid of, Zack? If you weren't afraid of something, you'da ripped the door off already."

Zack huffed a laugh. It was a good sign.

"You think he's another Jenova?" Might as well get it out there.

"That's the thought, isn't it?" Zack pushed away from the wall, and finally turned to face Cloud. "What if Hojo did to him what he did to me? What if he's truly a monster now?"

Cloud considered it. He'd never seen Jenova, had only his friend's descriptions to go on, but Zack hadn't sounded happy it shared the planet with the rest of them.

On the other hand, Aerith's mother had told her the Calamity story, and Aerith had shared it with them, and it told the story of a danger contained and trapped. Jenova didn't sound safe, but Cloud didn't think it was an immediate issue.

"Maybe he got more Jenova cells put in him, maybe he doesn't, but both Nero and the red one said Hojo was taking things from Rhapsodos. He had value the way he was," Cloud said firmly. "Why would Hojo risk that by adding more of what he already had?"

This time Zack's laugh was a little bitter. "Have you met the man?"

"Yah," Cloud said quietly. It sobered Zack.

"Then you know he'd do it because he was bored."

It wasn't a lie.

And Zack's concern was valid. If they'd pumped a SOLDIER of Rhapsodos' power with more Jenova-tainted mako, and it had turned him into a monster, then they'd have a hard time taking him down. It had taken a Minerva summon the last time Zack had said. That was a few steps above Cloud's Ifrit.

Tifa had Odin. Between the two, they might have enough time to escape.

Speaking of escape…

"Need to decide," he said. "System's are rebooting. Maybe an alarm. We need to be going."

"Fuuuuuck," Zack groaned. "How bad will I feel if we leave him here," he asked the ceiling.

Cloud answered for it: "Very."

That got another snorting laugh, but it got Zack moving. He switched his sword to his off hand. "Okay. First thing we need to do is drain the tank."

"First thing is to get there," Cloud pointed out. After all, there was another glass wall between them and it.

He could've saved the words. Zack wound up and punched the glass. It may have been reinforced, but Zack was pissed. Cracks appeared.

Tifa popped her head in. "Aerith said to tell you the screen now says 'possible containment breach' along with the rest."

Cloud walked to the side and pulled a lever. "How 'bout this?" The nearest panel slid open a few inches. It didn't take much to push it fully into the wall.

Zack walked through. "Well, sure. If you wanna be smart about it."

Cloud ducked before the larger man could ruffle his hair, which is what Zack usually did when he teased Cloud.

The former-SOLDIER went to the right side of the tank and pressed a series of buttons. There was a soft beeping sequence followed by the sound of the thick liquid draining out the bottom. It was fast, Cloud'd give them that. But then Shinra'd had a lot of years to perfect the design.

As it drained, Rhapsodos sagged in the tubing and wires but didn't fall. Meaning there was something else keeping him upright.

Once the mako was below the bottom lip, Zack pushed a couple more buttons on the side of the tank. That made latches spring out along the edge of the glass. Zack flipped those, and the whole front opened.

First thing Cloud thought was that it smelled really bad.

It wasn't anything like the open mako pools outside Nibelheim, which had had a sharp, acrid smell like lemon peel or too-strong tea. This was rotting lemons and milky tea left to curdle. Cloud coughed once, and then breathed through his mouth.

"He got a pulse?" Cloud asked.

With his height, Zack could easily reach up to Genesis' neck. He took off his glove and felt through the residual slime for Rhapsodos' heartbeat. He gave a sharp nod. "Slimey," he complained. He flicked his fingers and Cloud see the spots of tainted mako stick to the outside of the tube.

Tifa put her head in. "It's rebooted. Now it's loading."

"Got the route?" Cloud asked her. She nodded.

"Help me pull these things off him," Zack asked. Cloud and Tifa both moved forward, but there was barely room for two in the opening. Tifa went back to investigate more of the main room.

There were a lot of wires 'on' Rhapsodos, attached to his skin with clamps and patches, but there seemed to be an equal number of tubes that were 'in'. Small ones feeding stuff into his veins and taking blood out. A large one going into his stomach, and a slightly smaller one coming out lower down. Food in – waste out. Very efficient.

"Fucking psychos," Cloud muttered.

That got a startled belly laugh from Zack. He gave Cloud a nudge. "Glad to know there's some things worth swearing properly for."

Cloud didn't bother responding, just kept unhooking and pulling until there was only the straps holding the former First to a clear plastic frame. He handed his Healing materia to Zack so the SOLDIER could cast Cura and Regen. Rhapsodos took a visible breath but didn't wake up.

"You undo and I'll catch," Zack said.

"You got two swords," Cloud pointed out. "You cut. I'll catch and carry."

Zack looked like he wanted to argue, but he couldn't. The handle of his buster sword stood up behind his head, and there was a risk that the unconscious Rhapsodos would cut something if he dangled next to the exposed blade.

Finally, Zack nodded, he took out his knife and cut through the fabric instead of fiddling around with the unfamiliar buckles. He did the wing first, tucking it away where it wouldn't get pulled dangerously as Rhapsodos fell forward. Then legs, then arms, then chest.

Cloud let him fall over his left shoulder, heedless of the mako still dripping from everywhere. Unfortunately, Rhapsodos was naked, and his skin was covered with it. It made him slippery to hold.

He also stank.

"Tifa's found the quickest way to an exit," Cloud said.

"Hopefully, it involves a working elevator." Zack smiled ruefully at him.

"Yah," Cloud agreed. Rhapsodos wasn't as heavy as Cloud would've thought, though it made sense. The Crimson General wasn't anywhere near Zack's height or muscle mass. He was still an awkward, naked body that wanted to slide off Cloud's shoulder. He gave a small shrug.

"What's the path?" he asked first thing after entering the main chamber.

"Elevator access a level down but through a few hallways," Tifa answered.

"You and Zack leading," Cloud said. "Aerith, you're rear, so eyes open and ears wide, yah?"

"Got it!" she said with a thumbs up.

Cloud gave a nod to Tifa. Anytime she was ready, they'd follow.

"Should we find him some clothes first?" she asked.

"If we sprung a silent alarm, security forces will be coming in force," Zack said. "Best to be gone before they get here."

Tifa looked at him for confirmation. Cloud nodded. He wanted out of this place.

The first half of the ramp was fine, and they moved easily, but the second part was seriously uneven. Panels had lifted – or dropped; Cloud couldn't tell – and they had to jump over gaps a couple times. Exposed wires dangled. No electrical sparks like in the movies to show they were live, so they had to avoid those as well.

Even holding Rhapsodos' legs and his arm in a standard rescue carry, the SOLDIER slid down Cloud's back. He was just so damn slippery. Maybe once all the tainted mako dried up Cloud would have an easier time. Until then, Genesis dripped and slid, and Cloud shrugged him back up.

The lower floor had been split up into equipment rooms using flimsy drywall. Half the rooms Cloud could see had broken or missing wall panels.

Another sign the quake had run through here were the overturned supply bins. He spotted a couple ethers spilling out from a broken box. He pointed them out to Aerith who grabbed them all.

They gave Aerith a moment to see if she picked up on anymore materia, but there was nothing.

Tifa nodded to the right, where the service corridor's door frame had buckled, and the door had split. A hard punch from her and a firm kick from Zack had both parts falling clear. There were no lights in the long hallway.

"We need a flashlight," Zack said loudly enough to be heard over the echoes.

"Enhanced vision?" Tifa asked.

Zack shook his head. "I still need a bit of light."

Cloud let Rhapsodos slide to the floor. He rolled his shoulders to loosen them as he walked to the nearest broken wall. It was an electrical room. There were lots of warning lights flashing dimly. There didn't look to be anything else. He went back out.

Aerith and Zack were going through the supplies in the bins – hundreds of small boxes. They could only hope that whoever had packed the bins had put similar items together. Tifa had taken the rooms on the far side, so Cloud went to the next one on his side.

It was some kind of security room. There were multiple screens, most dark, and a weapons cabinet that had been unlocked and emptied. There was a box on the wall labeled EMERGENCY. It was locked. Cloud punched the front, creating a handhold, and proceeded to rip the cover right off.

He didn't see a flashlight, but he found another ether. He downed it. There were bandages he could use to wipe the mako off Rhapsodos, so he took those. There was an old Sense materia that wasn't even mastered. However, Cloud could sell it as-is to an antiques collector for a good bit of gil. He put it in his pack.

It occurred to him that this was basically theft. He didn't need the materia. It wouldn't help them survive down here, and it probably wouldn't do any good once they were up top again.

On the other hand, Cloud could say the pretty much the same thing about Genesis Rhapsodos.

He couldn't believe Shinra had put a "property of" label on the man.

Well, he could, but it made him scarily angry.

People weren't things.

This was a basic, fundamental right that was given to any sentient being.

And yet, here was Shinra – fucking setting themselves up as a feudal kingdom and enslaving people, using them up until they died.

They did it sneakily, though, made the company seem attractive, encouraged people to volunteer, but once they'd signed the waiver, Shinra considered them expendable. There were always more young people with dreams of being heroes.

Although he didn't agree with her methods, Cloud was beginning to think that Tifa was right: Shinra needed to be brought low, destroyed. Killing the president wouldn't change Shinra. The rot went up too high, affected too many people. The president might've approved Hojo's experiments, but someone had bought the equipment the lab techs had used. Someone had cleaned the cages Hojo's experiments had been kept in. Yet nobody had said anything.

Ten million wouldn't come close to making up for everything Shinra'd done, so Cloud refused to feel guilty about stealing some ancient, forgotten materia out of their fucking evil lab.

He needed to calm down though. Losing his temper here wouldn't help anybody.

He stopped riffling through the drawers and just stood in the middle of the room, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. He tried to fill his mind with soothing thoughts. He was usually good at taking what life handed him, but this…. This bothered him deeply, and he couldn't find his calm.

He was unreasonably relieved when Tifa called out that she'd found a flashlight. He still flipped open the small wardrobe, just in case there was something else they could use, and just to prove their luck wasn't completely horrible, there was a clean set of yellowish coveralls hanging from a hook.

Cloud took those too.

The others helped him clean Rhapsodos off using the bandages he'd scrounged. They chatted, but Cloud didn't join in.

Aerith touched his cheek. "You have some mako on you." Automatically, Cloud lifted his hand to touch the spot, but Aerith grabbed his wrist, turning it to show a faint shine on his skin. "You were holding him."

Tifa shone the light towards his arm. It glowed faintly green. "Damn."

Cloud stared at it.

Aerith was already dousing a clean bandage with water. Cloud didn't wait for her to carefully wipe with her usual care. He took the cloth and scrubbed. Cheek, neck, arms, and hands. Anywhere he could reach that could have tainted mako on it.

He hadn't thought of it when he'd suggested he carry Rhapsodos. They needed to get him out of there, and Cloud was the most logical one to carry him. It had been simple, logical, but now he just felt stupid. Of course, the tainted mako that coated Rhapsodos had rubbed off and maybe soaked into him. Of course, it would.

Stupid.

At least, Cloud knew why he was having trouble with his temper.

"You okay?" Tifa asked.

"Wasn't thinking," he admitted. "But he'll be covered now, so it'll be alright."

"Sure?" She didn't sound like she believed him. "I could…"

Cloud shook his head. "You're the navigator. You have to be up front," he said. "And Zack's our best fighter. He needs to be able to move."

"You'll tell us if you start…" Aerith shrugged. "Showing signs, I guess."

"Oh yah." Cloud nodded firmly. "Been mako poisoned before. Didn't enjoy it either time."

"Twice?" Zack asked. He was stuffing Rhapsodos into the coveralls, but he'd stopped to look at Cloud.

"When we were kids, he fell into one of the open pools," Tifa answered for him. "It was horrible."

"Yansen was a bully. Did it deliberate."

"You can't know that," Tifa protested. "We were all there playing."

Cloud didn't look at her. "He told me after I got better. Said the village would be better off it I was dead."

Tifa frowned. "Why didn't you tell someone?"

He snorted. "'Cause he was the merchant's son and well liked, and I was 'that weird Strife boy'. He wasn't wrong when he said nobody'd believe me."

Tifa's frown grew, but Cloud didn't try to sooth it away. She hadn't seen the ugliness that Nibelheim had held for an outsider, and half the time she didn't believe him when he pointed it out. Plus, this wasn't the time to rewrite her memories. He grabbed all the fouled bandages, put them on the floor away from the boxes, and burned them.

"Ready to go?" he asked them, walking away from the acrid smoke.

Zack and Aerith nodded. Tifa, still frowning, nodded more slowly.

Zack helped him get Rhapsodos up and balanced before moving up to the front. Cloud gave a hop… Rhapsodos didn't slide. Zack gave him a reassuring cuff on the shoulder.

"Are you sure you're okay," Aerith asked quietly and Tifa and Zack sorted themselves out in front.

Cloud nodded. "Twitchy, a little. But okay."

She gave him a long searching look before nodding back at him. Whatever she'd seen, it'd satisfied her. Aerith gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. His skin warmed at the contact and Cloud knew he was blushing.

Then they were moving, walking carefully into the long, corridor lit only by the single beam of a basic flashlight. It was enough for his enhanced eyes, but beside him, Aerith stumbled over debris she couldn't see.

"Walk behind me," he said. "Hand on my back to feel the rhythm." He waited until she was in position. "Right foot first."

It was easy. He wasn't taking long steps anyways because of Rhapsodos, so it was easy to match his strides to Aerith's. The only disconcerting thing was how aware he was of the pressure of her hand against his back. Like the phantom echo of her kiss.

He'd mostly been joking when he'd made that suggestion to Zack last week, but maybe there'd been a kernel of truth to it as well. Huh.

The reason for the darkness was explained by the door at the end of the hall. It was locked, but Zack just kicked it and it flew out of the frame.

Cloud kept Aerith back while Zack and Tifa did a quick sweep for danger. When Zack waved them forward, they both jogged out into the light. It another wide corridor, with the same glass block layers under the ceiling and the fake columns that they'd seen up top.

"Left," Tifa said, so that's the way they went. It was peaceful for five minutes, until they walked out to what had to be the middle of the complex. It was a huge open atrium dug out of the earth and lined with offices. It was filled with pillars and struts and a large central construction of tubes and huge pressure pipes.

The walkway they were on extended a couple metres out into it. There were few lights, and most of the ones Cloud could see were either dim, emergency lights, or flashing alarms.

"Too exposed," Zack muttered.

Tifa was already heading right, fast and even, so Cloud followed. His pace was more jagged with Rhapsodos bouncing on his shoulders, but he kept up – he agreed with Zack.

Flying guards, in awkward helicopter-style rigs, rose from the below their platform. Fully helmeted, they looked like weird insects in uniforms of deep red with more of the glowing blue that Rosso'd had on her outfit. They had assault rifles that looked similar to the gun Cloud had used as an infantryman, but bigger.

The security force opened fire immediately. They should've suffered knock-back from firing their weapons with nothing to brace them, but they didn't. More Science Department bullshit.

At the first gunshot, Aerith had her arcane ward up. She blasted the nearest guard with lightning and his rig failed completely. With smoke and fire billowing from his harness, he fell back the way he'd come.

He didn't scream, which was a little creepy.

Tifa and Zack started bouncing up, whacking the flyers with fists or steel, and then rebounding back onto the platform. It meant Cloud couldn't risk casting any of his wind spells. If he knocked one of the flyers out of position as either Tifa or Zack were aiming at him, then they could go sailing right out into the abyss. Zack might survive. Tifa probably wouldn't.

Instead, all Cloud could do was try to block incoming bullets, so they didn't hit Aerith. Unfortunately, the flyers were terrible shots and ricochets came in from every direction. He got a couple across his arm that burned like acid. Rhapsodos, poor sod, was taking a lot of the bullets aimed their way.

"Is this the area that we were warned against?" Zack yelled.

"Yah," Tifa shouted back. "Quickest route, though."

There were too many guards, and they were coming in too close. Aerith's magic was phenomenal, but even she could only take down so many at a time. They needed another long-range option.

"Need a gun!" he shouted at the two in front.

"We need to run!" Zack countered. "We're too exposed here."

Right, Cloud thought. That was a better idea.

"Get ready!" he warned. This would use up all the mana he'd recovered so far, but it should give them the time they needed to find better cover. He was wearing his Comet materia – his leveled Comet materia – and he was standing in Aerith's magic circle. Hopefully it would cast twice and make the space in front of them too dangerous for flying.

The magic felt pulled from his toes, but it worked.

Instantly, magical burning rocks, half a dozen or more. slammed full force into the flying soldiers. The ones that weren't hit by Comet, were knocked sideways when their buddies were knocked into them. It was chaos and death, and just what they needed.

"Go!" Zack shouted. "I'll cover."

Tifa didn't hesitate. She just started running to the right. Cloud nodded to Aerith to go next. He followed her. Cloud could hear Zack grunt as bullets hit home. All he could do was hope that it didn't put the guy into a flashback fugue.

But it wasn't flashbacks or panic attacks Cloud heard behind him, but the distinctive THWUMP-hiss of one of Zack's powered moves. Either Exploder Blade or Blast Wave. Those two could knock opponents back, out of the fight. Based on more of Shinra's manufactured material, like his Death Jump, Zack had been working on getting them back.

There were a couple explosions – hopefully more flyers – and then Zack's triumphant "Ha!"

When Aerith paused to recast Barrier on Zack, Cloud ran past her. He'd have to trust that she knew her timing.

The corridor curved around the mostly open centre. The only thing in the middle was the massive cluster of transfer pipes. Hundreds of large, pressurized tubes and thousands of smaller ones, ran from it to the buildings. They actually looked familiar.

Cloud risked a look over the rail, down to the bottom of the pit. It glowed, more white than green, but still familiar. Above the mako pool was a structure that looked like a smaller version of the reactors circling Midgar – at least what was left of it. A huge chunk had been blown out of one side and most of the pipes in and out had either melted or fallen.

All around where the reactor had been, the structure was bent or broken. Even in the quick glance he took, Cloud saw a large section of a support pillar shear off and fall into the liquid mako. "Odin's eye," he whispered. It was a prayer.

Aerith ran past him. Zack gave him a shove. "No sightseeing."

Obediently, Cloud sped up. A few metres ahead, Tifa stood in the entrance to a corridor. On the left, more of the flying guards rose into view.

Gunfire blasted out from behind him.

Cloud risked a look over his shoulder.

Zack was firing a Shinra assault rifle, one-handed and from the hip.

"Never gonna hit anything firing like that," Cloud protested. All his weapon drills protested the bad firing discipline.

"Not trying to," Zack replied. "Just got to keep them away until we get to the door."

Good point.

A glance showed it was working: the flying guards were keeping their distance. They were still shooting, but the bullets were going mostly too high or too low. Rhapsodos took a solid hit where he was draped over Cloud's back and grunted at the impact.

Aerith disappeared into the corridor. Cloud put on a burst of speed.

Cloud, running full speed, and expecting a hallway, looked up to see a wall. Too late to stop, he twisted and let Rhapsodos take the hit.

It wasn't a door Tifa had led them to, but a gate. One of those old-fashioned folding gates used on old-fashioned elevators.

This was the elevator up.

Zack ended up running right into him. Cloud got slammed backward and Genesis took another hit.

At least he'd managed to protect Rhapsodos' head.

"An elevator?" Zack asked.

Tifa nodded. "Think it'll work?" she asked, even as she pushed the up button. It lit up. The gears, or whatever, creaked and rumbled. They started to move.

"Hopefully, it keeps going," Zack said. He was looking up, as if he could see the cables and wires, and all the things needed for them to keep going up.

Disembodied but oddly familiar music began to play.

"The reactor blew," Cloud said. He gave a little jump and shrugged his shoulders, settling Rhapsodos into a new position which was almost as good as putting him down. (Not really, but it did help.) "Bet that was the quake we felt."

"What reactor?" Tifa asked.

"Evil lab had its own reactor," Cloud said. "It went BOOM."

Zack was staring at him. "They built a reactor under their main headquarters."

"Hmm," Cloud agreed. He plucked a bullet out of Rhapsodos' leg. Seeing that, Aerith cast Cura on the unconscious First and more bullets plinked against the floor.

Zack was rubbing his head. "You know," he said slowly. "Don't most myths have the powerful being ruined by their own arrogance? I mean, did old man Shinra not read the same books in school that we did?"

"Part of arrogance is thinking it won't happen to you," Tifa pointed out. Zack sighed, conceding the point.

"I worked for idiots," he muttered. "Arrogant, fucking, idiots. We won't have to do anything to bring them down. They'll just–" He tipped his hand over in stages, like dominos falling one after the other. "–all on their own."

"As long as it's after they pay us," Tifa said, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"I thought you wanted them to research mako alternates?'

She nodded. "But if we have the gil, we can fund it independently from them, right?"

"Sure!" Zack said enthusiastically. "Actually, I've been thinking about it since I had that, um, meeting with your friend Barret. Did he tell you about my suggestions?"

Tifa shook her head, and that was all the encouragement Zack needed to go into a lot of detail about how they could develop their own alternate fuel, who they should contact, and how they could convert the current power grid.

It was going to be a long trip up.

.o0|0o.

Barret stared at the hole where the bar used to be. Behind it, the culvert mall had sunk so it looked like a huge V sticking out of the ground, pointy side up. Shops and homes to either side were either down or tilted.

"Daddy?"

Marlene's voice cut through the blank fog that had filled his mind. This was way too similar to what had happened to Corel.

"Yes, sweetheart?" he murmured to the little girl as he lifted her to sit safe in his arms. Child of his oldest friend and his deepest regret.

"Is Tifa okay?"

"I'm sure she is, sweetheart," he said. He wasn't sure of anything of the sort. "We just have to be patient, is all."

Marlene didn't look impressed.

"We found Biggs and Wedge didn't we?"

Marlene looked over towards the pair, busy doing triage under Marle's eagle-eyed guidance. Turned out, she'd been an army nurse in Fort Condor. Before they'd lost their war against Shinra.

"Still need to find Jessie," Marlene told him.

"I know sweetheart. I just wanted to come back here and make sure you were okay."

"I'm okay, daddy." But she hugged his neck as hard as she could as she said it, so Barret didn't believe her.

That was alright. He wasn't okay either.